Elastic stocking.



No. 707,659. Patented Aug. 26, I902.

. F. WARE &. W. R. CARTLEDGE.

ELASTIC STOCKING.

(Application filed Mar. 3, 1902.)

I (No Model.)

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lTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IVALTER F. \VARE, OF CAMDEN, NEWV JERSEY, AND WRIGHT R. CARTLEDGE, OFPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

ELASTIC STOCKING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 707,659, dated August26, 1902.

Application filed March 3, 1902. Serial No. 96,407. (No model.)

To (Z5 whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that we, WALTER F. \VARE, residing in the city of Camden,State of New Jersey, and WRIGHT R. CARTLEDGE, residing in Philadelphia,State of Pennsylvania, citizens of the United States, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Elastic Stockings, of which thefollowing is a full and complete disclosure.

In general our invention relates to improvements in the construction andarrangement of parts whereby the stocking is not only made to fit moreperfectly, but is more comfortable to the wearer and may be made in lesstime with a corresponding lessening of the cost of manufacture. Thestocking is knit in three separate pieces and the parts united by theirselvage edges, so that the completed stocking forms a better fitting,more comfortable,

and better wearing article of manufacture than has heretofore beenproduced.

For a full and complete description reference may be had to thefollowing specification and to the accompanying drawings,in which Figure1 is a view showing the parts of the stocking separated and flattenedout. Fig. 2 is a view showing one manner of assembling the same, andFig. 3 is a view showing the stocking in place upon the foot and leg.

The fabric of which this stocking is composed, as is usual in this classof articles, is made elastic transversely, while it is non-elasticlongitudinally.

In the drawings the numeral 1 indicates the 5 leg portion of thestocking, which is knit in one piece and is united at the rear by aseam,

over which is sewed a piece of tape or cloth 2 to strengthen the same.This construction leaves a selvage 3, to which the foot and heel pieces4 and 5 may be attached.

The foot-piece 4 is made in substantially the same manner with a selvageedge 6 and a strengtheningdape 7 covering the seam where the ends areunited.

The heel-piece is a single band of elastic fabric having a selvage edge8. Then the pieces are assembled to form a stocking, the heel-piece 5 isattached by its ends to the footpiece 4., and the selvage edge 8 isattached to the selvage edge 3 for about one-half the circumference ofthe latter. The other half of the selvage edge 3 is attached to theselvage 6. Pieces of tape or cloth 9 are sewed to the stocking at theintersections of the seams to strengthen the same. The other edges ofthe fabric are also finished or selvage edges; but the particular formof edge is not essential aside fromrthose above mentioned.

It will be noted among the features of construotion that the usual tapedseam at the rear of the heel portion is "done away with, whereby the fitis more perfect and ashoe may be more comfortably worn. Furthermore, thebending portion of the stocking is brought high on the foot portion andis practically at the seam 10. Therefore there is less material in theinstep or bending portion, which makes the stocking less liable topucker and makes the length of the line above the instep shorter than isusual in the regular elastic stocking in use. A great saving in time inthe manufacture of the stocking is also obtained, since each part can befinished complete without unnecessary s'toppings of the machine tofinish the different edges, and the parts may be assembled by lessskilled labor and at a smaller cost.

Another advantage and function of the construction, above described isthat in consequence of having the foot portion a separate piece orpieces they may be detached when they have become worn out or soiled andreplaced by similar perfect pieces. This obviates the necessity ofthrowing away the stocking, as would be the case were the parts integral, since the leg portion always lasts many times as long as thefoot portion. In this way an increase in convenience and a reduction inexpense to the user is obtained.

Slight changes in detail and arrangement may be made without departingfrom the spirit of our invention.

What we claim, and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is

l. A new article of manufacture, an elastic stocking comprising asubstantially cylindrical leg portion having a selvage edge at its lowerend and closed at the back by alongitudinal seam, a cylindrical footportion having a selvage edge at its upper end closed by a seam at thebottom, a heel-band seamless at the rear having an upper selvage edge,the foot portion being stitched to the leg portion for substantiallyone-half their peripheries by elastic stitching the heel-band beingattached to the other half of the periphery of the leg portion byelastic stitching and its ends to the adjacent foot portion,substantially as described.

2. A new article of manufacture, an elastic stocking comprising asubstantially cylindrical leg portion having a selvage edge at its lowerend and closed at the back by a longitudinal seam, tape covering saidseam, a cylindrical foot portion having a selvage edge at its upper endand closed by a seam at the bottom, tape covering said seam, and a heel-

